ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 5, 2021) - Orlando Pride (6-5-7, 25 points) earned a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Dash (6-7-4, 22 points) in a match coined as the “Space Race”, pitting the Space Coast and Space City against one another in a nationally-televised match on CBS.
Taylor Kornieck scored the lone goal for the Pride in the match, netting the equalizer in the 80th minute of play with a header off a corner from Meggie Dougherty Howard. The finish served as the second for Kornieck in the NWSL regular season and her third in all competitions, with Dougherty Howard tallying her first assist in regular season action.
The match saw Ali Krieger make her 150th NWSL appearance in all competitions, 81 of which have come as a member of the Pride, while Erin McLeod made her third appearance of the season in net, entering the game in the 67th minute for Ashlyn Harris. Prior to the match, Harris was honored at midfield for breaking the NWSL all-time saves record with her 469th stop in league action coming in New Jersey a week ago.
Orlando Pride Interim Head Coach Becky Burleigh:
“In general, looking back on the game I think we put ourselves in a hole a little bit. Our start was not what we would hope for, but for the team to battle back and to deal with that adversity and for the people who came into the match, I thought there were some really strong performances from the reserves. I’d like to shout out Erin McLeod, that’s a tough situation to go into and her composure was incredible. Obviously Taylor [Kornieck] gets a goal coming off the bench, I thought Toni Pressley played a big role coming off the bench as well. It’s great to see our reserves making such an impact.”
Scoring Recap:
10’ Rachel Daly - HOU 1, ORL 0
The Dash took the early lead, with Rachel Daly bouncing on a misplayed pass by the Pride defense before firing her shot into the far post.
79’ Taylor Kornieck (Meggie Dougherty Howard) - ORL 1, HOU 1
The Pride leveled off a set piece late in the second half, with Meggie Dougherty Howard whipping in a corner from the left side and finding the head of Taylor Kornieck in the area, whose strike crossed the goal line before the Houston defense could clear it.
Match Notes:
- Taylor Kornieck found the back of the net for the second time this campaign and for the third in all competitions. Kornieck’s first NWSL regular-season goal came in similar fashion, leveling the Pride from a 1-0 deficit against the Washington Spirit on June 6.
- Meggie Dougherty-Howard registered her first assist in NWSL regular season play for the Pride and her third in all competitions, registering two in the Challenge Cup, both of which came on April 10 at Racing Louisville.
- Erin McLeod made her third appearance as a member of the Pride in the match, entering the game in the 67th minute for Ashlyn Harris. The appearance served as McLeod’s 50th in NWSL play.
- Ali Krieger earned her 150th NWSL appearance in all competitions on Sunday, starting at the back for the Pride. Of the 150, 81 have come in her time in Orlando.
- Interim Head Coach Becky Burleigh made one change to her starting lineup from last week’s match at Gotham, with Amy Turner starting at center back on the afternoon.
- Sunday’s match served as the Pride’s Space Race contest, pitting the Space Coast against Space City in Houston. Both clubs released kits in relation to space exploration ahead of the 2021 campaign, with the Pride launching their Ad Astra jersey and Houston their Luv Ya Dash secondary kit, honoring Houston’s ties to American Space exploration.
Next Match: The Pride return home to Exploria Stadium on Friday, Sept. 11 to host Racing Louisville in a 7 p.m. ET kickoff. Tickets are available here or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
